Various devices are used for assisting patients in complying with their medical regimens. The most sophisticated of these devices are so-called medication dispensers, which dispense to a patient proper dosages of medications at prescribed times. For the medication dispensers, the medications of a patient are typically prepackaged by licensed pharmacies into medication packages, which are connected together to form a strip.
In a conventional medication dispenser, medication packages are arranged to be delivered to a patient one package at a time according to the taking time information contained in a label of each medication package. The medication packages are conveyed from a container to an outlet of the medication dispenser with conveying means that comprises rollers for moving the medication packages. At the taking time of the medications, the medication dispenser notifies the patient. If the patient acknowledges the notification, the medication package is conveyed to the outlet of the medication dispenser. Otherwise, the medication package is kept in the medication dispenser.
Problems associated with known medication dispensers relate, due to the use of rollers, to the handling of medication packages. First, there is a risk of a medication package getting stuck inside the medication dispenser when the package is conveyed. A medication package may be driven out of the conveying path because the medication package has not been placed correctly into the container or is incorrectly aligned or bent while being conveyed. Second, there is a difficulty of moving a medication package in forward and backward directions, the feature of which is needed in some applications.
Other problems associated with known medication dispensers relate to defects in their medical safety. Once the patient has acknowledged the notification to take the medications, the medication package is delivered out of the medication dispenser without any further functionality to control the taking of the medications. It may thus happen that the patient forgets to take the medications right after he/she has acknowledged the notification. Furthermore, because the medication package remains available, there is a risk that the patient takes the medications after their correct taking time, or that the medications are accidentally taken by someone else than the patient.